The present invention relates to imaging device click counts and, more particularly, to a method and system for click count fragmentation in which separate imaging device click counts are maintained for service and billing purposes.
Imaging devices, such as multifunction printers (MFPs), maintain click counts that track the number of pages generated by individual imaging functions, for example, the number of pages printed, scanned, copied and foxed. Known click counts are often used for both service and billing purposes. On the service side, click counts may be used to determine service times and/or warranty expiration for an imaging device. On the billing side, click counts may be used by an owner of an imaging device as a basis for billing a customer who has leased the imaging device for imaging activities, for example, printing, scanning, copying and foxing.
Use of known click counts for billing purposes has had certain shortcomings. First, known click counts cannot easily be reset. There is typically no reset option available on any local or remote imaging device interface and click counts are only reset in exceptional circumstances, such as when an MFP engine is replaced. Therefore, the owner must record the click counts at the end of each billing cycle in order to establish a baseline for determining how many pages are generated by individual imaging functions during the next billing cycle. Second, known click counts run uninterrupted and thus often go out-of-sync with the number of generated pages that are usable by the customer for business or personal use. For example, when an MFP is being serviced, service personnel may print test pages to check if the MFP is working properly. These test pages add to the printing click count even though they are not usable by the customer. Still, it is important to maintain an uninterrupted click count that includes test pages for determining service times and/or warranty expiration for the MFP.